The Roughest Riders by Jerome Tuccille Page B

in sight of the enemy, sir!”
    The enemy was indeed close at hand, though not yet visible, as they lay protected behind their well-laid barricades. Roosevelt was not quite convinced of that until he stumbled across some strands of cut barbed wire that had previously crossed the path. He noticed that the wire had just recently been cut; the ends were bright, showing no signs of rust despite the heavy rains and high humidity.
    Both Wood and Roosevelt concluded that they were being set up for another ambush—they later suspected that Castillo, the self-styled Cuban general, might have collaborated with the Spanish—and it was time to tone down the party atmosphere that had prevailed at times during the climb from Siboney. They had the men recheck their rifles to ensure they were fully loaded and tie down their loose equipment to prevent any more rattling than was necessary. At that moment, Capron, who had reconnoitered the pass ahead, reported back that their scouts had come across a dead Spaniard whose corpse had been picked almost to the bone by vultures, crabs, and a variety of nasty insects. The remains of the dead soldier lay ahead just before the pass veered back into the jungle.
    Meanwhile, Young’s scouts on the right had spotted the Spaniards at 7:20 in the morning and were almost in range of their guns. His men had dragged their three Hotchkiss artillery pieces across the flat, dry ground leading toward the enemy line. The Spaniards lay behind their felled-tree barricades, further protected by large boulders on top of a steep hill. Others lay in hand-dug trenches beside the barricades. Young told his men to stop again until he was sure that Wood and Roosevelt had drawn close enough to hit the Spaniards on the left flank. “Don’t shoot until you see something to shoot at!” Young commanded. At eight o’clock, Wheeler took command of his forward unit.
    The main line of defenders stretched across the junction of the two paths. Nearby, brick houses used for storing sugarcane stood in profile against the sky. The Spaniards, having positioned mostof their sharpshooters in the tall grass to the west rather than on a steep slope on the east that dropped into the valley, posed a greater threat to the Rough Riders than to Wheeler’s forces.
    â€œGeneral Young and myself examined the position of the enemy,” Wheeler reported afterward. “The lines were deployed and I directed him to open fire with the Hotchkiss guns. The enemy replied and the firing immediately became general.”
    The Rough Riders were almost there when they heard the roaring of the guns. As they tried to step up their advance, a volley of bullets flew from the Spaniards’ Mausers, although mostly whizzing above their heads. The shots ripped through the trees, emitting an unnerving noise like the humming of telegraph wires. But then the Spanish sharpshooters lowered their sights and found their marks. One by one, Rough Riders crumbled in agony beneath the steady fusillade.
    â€œI got it that time,” one of the volunteers called out as he fell. Others began to curse.
    â€œDon’t swear—shoot!” Wood shouted.
    â€œThere was no more gossip in the ranks,” Marshall reported. “The men sprang to their feet without waiting for an order. As they did so a volley which went over our heads came through the mysterious tangle on our right. A scattering fire was heard from the direction in which the scouts had gone. Then silence.”
    Although their shots were apparent, the Spanish soldiers were all but invisible, hidden in the high grass with their smokeless gunpowder that gave no hint of where they were. The denseness of the jungle added to the challenge of figuring out exactly where they were entrenched. Stephen Crane was particularly critical of Wood and Roosevelt’s strategy. They entered the fray, he wrote, with “simply a gallant blunder. This silly brave force wandered